March 12 in History: Events

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The published March 12 chronology runs from 538 to 2025, a span of 1,487 years. It contains 114 sourced records across 41 countries and 8 event categories. These figures describe the current collection, not all events that occurred on this date.

Start at the earliest published record or jump to the latest. The counts below show where this collection is concentrated.

Most represented topics

Politics & society · 59 records
War & conflict · 27 records
Sport · 12 records
Disasters · 6 records

Most represented countries

United States · 33 records
United Kingdom · 3 records
Japan · 2 records
Mauritius · 2 records
Spain · 2 records

Compare events across time

These pairs share a category and calendar date; the pairing does not imply a historical connection.

War & conflict: Siege of Rome (537–538) (538) and Battle of Brovary (2022) appear 1,484 years apart in this collection.
Politics & society: 1088 papal election (1088) and 2025 Swiss Federal Council election (2025) appear 937 years apart in this collection.
Sport: 1893 Blues v Reds football match (1893) and K-1 World GP 2023: K'FESTA 6 (2023) appear 130 years apart in this collection.

Some events have more than one location, so country counts can overlap. Read about our sources and editorial approach.

March 12 historical events

538 — Siege of Rome (537–538)

The siege of Rome took place on 2 March 537 – 12 March 538 AD and it was the city's first siege during the Gothic War (535–554) between the defending Byzantine Empire's forces under the leadership of General Belisarius against a numerically superior Ostrogothic (Goths) force under King Vitiges. The siege was the first major encounter between the forces of the two opponents, and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war.

This entry records the event's end date, as given in the source infobox.

Italy · War & conflict · Checked 2026-10-18

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Most represented topics

Most represented countries

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March 12 historical events

538 — Siege of Rome (537–538)

1088 — 1088 papal election

1169 — Sack of Kiev (1169)

1391 — Konrad von Wallenrode is elected the 24th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (date is O.S.)

1470 — Battle of Losecoat Field

1537 — Siege of Klis

1550 — Battle of Penco

1579 — Siege of Maastricht (1579)

1689 — Williamite War in Ireland

1778 — Vermont declares Thomas Chittenden its first elected governor

1788 — Sikh attacks on Delhi

1793 — 1793 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1799 — 1799 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1805 — John Langdon defeats John Taylor Gilman in New Hampshire's 1805 gubernatorial election

1811 — 1811 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1811 — Battle of Redinha

1816 — 1816 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1822 — 1822 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1833 — 1833 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1839 — 1839 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1844 — 1844 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1850 — 1850 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1861 — 1861 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1867 — 1867 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1872 — 1872 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1878 — March 1878 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

1879 — Battle of Intombe

1893 — 1893 Blues v Reds football match

1898 — Birth of Tian Han

1912 — Juliette Gordon Low registers the first US Girl Guide troop

1913 — Australia officially names its future capital Canberra

1916 — Battle of Latema Nek

1917 — Battle of Monastir (1917)

1918 — Battle of Tell 'Asur

1921 — 1921 Western Australian state election

1925 — Egypt elects a new parliament

1928 — In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people

1936 — Tauran Incident

1940 — Turenki rail accident

1940 — Moscow Peace Treaty

1942 — Battle of Java (1942)

1942 — Convoy PQ 12

1947 — Cold War: U.S. president Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine to help stem the spread of communism

1949 — 1949 Scottish League Cup final (March)

1950 — 1950 Soviet Union legislative election

1950 — Llandow air disaster

1951 — Battle of Maehwa-san

1954 — 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election

1956 — Birth of Zhan Hongzhi

1958 — Birth of Chu Tʽien-hsin

1967 — French legislative election, 1967

1968 — 1968 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary

1968 — 1968 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary

1968 — Mauritius gains independence

1971 — 1971 Syrian presidential election

1971 — 1971 Turkish military memorandum

1977 — Hong Kong beats Singapore in a World Cup qualifying play-off

1987 — Matthew Taylor wins the Truro parliamentary by-election

1989 — Malagasy presidential election, 1989

1992 — Mauritius becomes a republic

1993 — 1993 Bombay bombings

1993 — Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

1993 — 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis

1994 — 1994 Fremantle by-election

1996 — Bob Dole wins the 1996 Texas Republican presidential primary

1996 — Bill Clinton wins Oklahoma’s 1996 Democratic presidential primary

1998 — 1997 Chinese Football Super Cup

2000 — Spanish general election, 2000

2000 — Living Dangerously (2000)

2000 — Nevada Democrats hold presidential caucuses

2000 — 2000 Andalusian regional election

2001 — Ugandan presidential election, 2001

2001 — 2001 Alberta general election

2002 — 2002 Tulsa mayoral election

2003 — Assassination of Zoran Đinđić